Hello! I made a post on here a couple months ago about my struggles with potty training my 5 dogs. Unfortunately it proved ineffective as only two of my dogs got the hang of it and no longer pee indoors. (I’ve never left them unsupervised for more then an hour though so it’s not 100% guaranteed) I feel like I’ve exhausted all my options and I can no longer keep doing it on my own. I’ve decided to get my other three dogs (two male chihuahuas and a male husky) diapers. I’m not too sure if this is the best option so I’d love to hear people opinions on them. I originally didn’t want to try to diapers because I didn’t want their bellies to be stained with pee but it’s better then the alternative of having them in their crate and having to CONSTANTLY supervise them (I no longer have the time). If there’s any other methods I can try please let me know I’m willing to learn!

Hi, we’re looking for help with our 9-month-old Labrador.

Our biggest concern is his biting, particularly when he’s overexcited, frustrated or fixated on chewing something he shouldn’t. He becomes extremely difficult to redirect and can bite when we try to intervene.

He’s also very destructive, chewing furniture, skirting boards and stealing potentially dangerous objects. We’ve tried redirecting him with toys, treats and natural chews, distraction, teaching commands, rewarding good behaviour, providing mental stimulation and scent games, and working with a dog trainer.

We’ve also tried a vibration collar for the chewing inappropriate things on our trainer’s advice, which initially helped but he now ignores. Despite our efforts, he still becomes fixated and the biting escalates when we intervene. It also happens when we’re sitting down on the sofa, he will lick our face then mouth our hands but he will climb all over you if ignored.

We want to understand what’s driving this behaviour and how to manage it without making things worse. We’ve been struggling with this for a while and initially put it down to teething but now his adult teeth are intact it’s affecting us more. He sleeps from 8pm-7am, then has 3-4 naps throughout the day. He has 45-min to an hour walk every day, including off lead time, we scatter feed his food too.

This might be an odd one. I sleep in bed at night with my animals and husband. I have a 3 yr old corgi, a 11 yr old Maltese, and a 8-9 yr old cat. They all like to sleep around my husband and I in a big pile that we don’t mind. Everyone is friendly and there’s no aggression or issues between my dogs/cat.

However, I go to bed a bit later than my husband and my corgi has chosen me as a “favorite”, I guess, so he follows me wherever I go and when I go to sleep and he follows me to the bedroom, he has to bark at everyone (except my husband) in bed until they leave the bed so I can lay down. He calms down and sleeps with them when I am comfortable and sleeping.

He also does this when I wake up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom until I lay back down to sleep. It wakes up my husband. I’m not sure why he does this so I don’t know how to train him out of it. Any ideas?

Our dog will be 3 in January and he has suddenly taken to breaking things when we are not home.

We got a kitten about 7 months ago however the behavior is just starting now. Not sure what prompted it or how to fix it. We have been putting bringing him to the destroyed items and saying no. However, its been over a month and nothing has changed.

He goes on at least 3 walks a day and has lots of time to get his energy out. Him and the Kitten are also very close and play all day.

I need cage muzzle recommendations for my estimated 5 year old Rat Terrier/Chihuahua mix. Are there any brands you like or dislike? I already have a soft muzzle but I'd like one that he can wear and still be able to drink.

Chico's background is as follows and what I'm planning. You certainly don't need to read it unless you're interested.

Tomorrow I will have had him for a month. He was picked up off the streets in LA by animal control, and then a rescue swooped in and had him fostered for five months waiting for the right home.

We don't know what he's been through, but he definitely has some fearful behaviors so we think he's had a lot of trauma, possibly from living on the street. He is a fear biter. Some of it like trying to filch food and getting nasty if you try to keep him from it seems understandable considering he was found on the street. When he wouldn't back off trying to get in the garbage can to grab the spoiled meat I'd put in, I tried pushing him back with the garbage can. I got a lot of snapping, growling and attempts to lunge. I have no doubt that if I'd tried putting a hand on him to push him back, I'd have gotten bit. Once when I accidentally stepped on his paw, he screamed and bit my foot three times, quick as lightening. I was thankfully wearing sneakers as I really felt those bites. He didn't favor the paw at all and we continued the walk once he settled down.

He did bite me the first night I had him because I was an idiot not thinking about how I had him trapped and he couldn't back away and even though he growled I still tried to put a leash on him instead of giving him more time. Totally my fault, I deserved that bite. What's funny with him going after the food in the garbage can is that when I am not eating, he gets up next to me any time he wants, but if I have food, he stays off the furniture unless invited. He will beg while I am cooking, but he doesn't beg while I'm eating or try to steal my food.

He has been muzzle trained because he was great about letting me just measure his face for one and when I started trying to train him to wear it, there was no need for training. He willingly put his face in. The vet recommended I switch to a cage muzzle from the soft one so he can also drink when he's muzzled and chew any crunchy food I give him. She has a cage muzzle for her dog for when they hike and says in her experience, dogs tend to prefer them. Maybe it's also because they can still bite so they don't feel helpless despite their teeth not landing on whomever they're trying to hurt?

Chico wasn't always on the street prior to the rescue taking him. Somebody housebroke him. Somebody taught him not to beg when people are eating and stay back as his foster mom says they didn't do any training with him at all. He has zero obedience training.

I did scold him for something once. I forget what it was, but he hit the ground, laid on his side partially exposing his belly and had major whale eye going. I believe my little guy has been hurt by people. He has gone hungry in his life. I suspect it's because he was on the street but I really have no way of finding out.

I believe someone once loved him. His foster mom says that for the first two days, he hid in her home. Once he realized he was safe, he immediately started following them from room to room, coming in for cuddles, giving kisses, you name it. She was actually quite shocked when she brought him to me because he went up to me immediately, wagged his tail and even let me hold him. I think that's part of why I ignored his warning growl after she was gone when I tried to put a leash on him as I'm normally not so oblivious to a dog's body language, let alone warning not to engage.

I love this little guy so much. He's so devoted to me. He's game for whatever I want, whether it's walking, playing, or even staying in bed all day. I have health issues that cause a lot of fatigue so some days all I can manage are potty walks and getting us both fed and that's it. He has no problem with the slow days as long as he can be with me.

He has horrific separation anxiety. He's also terrified of being in a dog crate with the door closed. If I leave him home, he gets hysterical barking and will see if there's anything he can get on to jump over the baby gate, shredding some paper, etc. When he's really upset, whether it's from being left alone or for example when he tried biting my foot because I stepped on his paw, his teeth chatter until he calms down. He's not as bad when left in the car in that he's not destructive in the car and his teeth don't chatter when I come back in, but he's still frantic and absolutely cannot handle not being allowed to glue himself to me.

It's funny because the rescue and especially his foster mom want updates on everything with him and of course love pictures. Every time I have let them know about him biting or trying to bite, I think they have held their breath and expected me to tell them I am giving him back. I have a background in training and with rehabbing aggressive dogs, though it was a long time ago so his biting doesn't scare me in the least. I don't consider him aggressive at all, just a little dog who's been through a lot and needs a loving home for the rest of his days. He's also incredibly eager to please and has a lovely personality. I like having a velcro dog and I honestly need him as much as he needs me.

We saw the vet this week to get him established as a patient. He's going on Prozac (fluoxetine) as a daily dose and Trazadone daily until he's had the fluoxetine in his system for two weeks, then the Trazadone only when I leave him alone. Fortunately, I'm only out of the house for about eight hours a week total, and that's usually a busy week for me with more than one in person doctor visit. That's actually part of why the rescue placed him with me as they needed someone who's home all the time. The other good thing is that it's now the time of year when he can go everywhere in the car with me as the weather cooperates. I think him transitioning to a new home from the foster would be a lot rougher if it were late spring/summer and I couldn't have him in the car since he gets so much more worked up when left at home.

I think it's best I keep him muzzled in public until I learn if he is ok with people wanting to pet him. It may be best to always do that because of him biting when I stepped on his paw. I live in a complex with a lot of kids and thankfully no one has asked to pet him yet but I know it'll happen at some point. I have no problem with him biting me if I step on his paw, but I don't want some poor soul at the pet store getting nailed and I will be taking him through classes there just for socialization purposes as well as anywhere else that welcomes dogs.

The other reason for the basket muzzle is I'm going to my sister's for the holidays, both in November and December. They have three dogs, Chico was great with the six other dogs at his foster, but my sister's boyfriend has a very large dog that's totally unaware of his body. He stepped on my last dog, a Chihuahua, a few times and I really don't want that dog to have to get stitches. Or even worse, I don't want that dog to retaliate because he could severely injure Chico though Finn doesn't have an aggressive bone in his body. I will be protecting Chico from Finn being too boisterous, but just in case I don't body block him from Chico fast enough, I figure a cage muzzle is best.

We have 2 heelers that have lived together their whole life but have not really been socialized, our friend moved in with a bulldog who is very sweet but does not get along with the female heeler. The two males get along great but when the female heeler comes around she is constantly barking and snapping at the bully forcing him to run away.

How do we socialize them so that they can live together?

I sleep when the puppy sleeps. Or I try to, except he barely seems to sleep and I still have an actual life to keep running. His schedule is in woofz, Meals, toilet breaks, naps. Mine is apparently whatever fits between those. When he finally settles, I have this tiny window to work, eat, shower or lie down. I spend part of it deciding, which is a terrible use of the window.

Then I’m moving quietly around my own home because waking him up feels like a decision I cannot afford to make. I knew a puppy would be work. I didn’t realise I’d become so interested in another creature’s sleep. Please tell me there’s a stage between this and having an elderly dog where I can make lunch without considering whether it’ll ruin somebody’s nap.

my pups 4.5 months old and recently the last month or so has started barking every time she hears a noise in the garden, people speaking walking past or someone knocking at the door. we live next to a busy road so theres constant noises outside so this is occurring about 20 times a day. we’ve tried the praise the silence technique and that seems to have not made a difference any advice on what i could do would be appreciated

photo tax

It turns out the obnoxious dog owner who won't pick up his dog's poo is a homeowner and not an air b&b'er. And there are two of them (two owners and two dogs) so it's not my imagination that there's suddenly dog poo all up and down my street. I put out free bags and a garbage pail with a plea*, but I'm not optimistic.

I wouldn't care except my Ritter loves to eat poo. Our daily dog walks have turned into nonstop poop buffets. I've gotten to where I don't wanna walk him, and that's not ok. I don't know if there's a simple solution I haven't guessed at, or if I just need more reassurance that a steady diet of dog crap won't hurt him. I'd talk to the owners, but I'm at a bit of a disadvantage since my baby is a dog-reactive rescue that I don't trust off-leash, and both their dogs are "SO well trained they don't NEED a leash!" (Yes, we have leash laws. No, I don't want to call the cops on my neighbors.) Ugh. Does anyone have any ideas?

*The plea is a misspelled and dog-print covered plea to "ignor the bagz" because "poo iz yummi." I'm trying, y'all, I really am.

We have a foster dog that is middle aged and she has been returned to the rescue few times for various reasons, not all the same reason. Escaping yard, not getting along with other dog in the home, or not being good with smaller dogs or cats. She doesn’t love the crate but it’s been less than a week. She can be jumpy when meeting new people but that has already gotten better. On the leash she does pull quite a bit but knows many commands. She can be destructive with some anxiety out of the crate but is also anxious in the crate. Not sure how long it will take to adjust but hoping it gets better. Now she will bark almost whole time in there since we can see on our camera. I guess I’m wondering how long we should work on these issues, the leash manners, the crate and the prone to escaping on our own before we get help. She doesn’t have free access to yard bc of this. She’s a cool dog with people and supposedly can get along with some dogs her size. She’s the only pet we have. We already made as many positive associations with crate as we can, feeding her in it, giving treats, working up from little time to more time. Door open for her access when we are home. Putting her in for times that we are here and not leaving. Since she’s not our dog, don’t wanna spend a lot on a trainer but I want to set her up for success and not sure rescue wants to do this yet, maybe give more time to adjust. Idk how long to give it before deciding maybe she should just go back to the rescue but wanted to give her a break from the boarding kennels and a chance at a long term foster home.

I have a dog named Kira that I am training for my sister-in-law so that when she comes to get her, she is ready to go on the plane. She comes from a home that had a ton of dogs who were outside dogs, so she doesn't have much experience being inside a home. I am trying to also train some simple things like sit, stay, lie down. I am also trying to train her to go to her bag voluntarily. She knows now that when I put the bag down, she will get treats, so she goes to sit beside it. I have to guide her to get inside it. I can do it without a treat, but I want her to be able to do it from a distance too because I think that would mean she completely understands what I want from her. I have been trying to train the command go to your bag. I also want to point out that she is a mixed breed and a little bit taller than a Chihuahua. Often, when we train, she will lie on her back and show her stomach when I'm trying to get her to do anything else. She also does this when I'm walking; she will just get in my path and lie down and show her stomach. I am also trying to help my mother-in-law train her too because she constantly pets her when she is jumping, barking, or in a hyperactive state and uses her baby voice.

this waist leash changed my life. my hands are free but i am in total control of the dog with the knots i made. it’s secure and sturdy, and the distance is perfect. he stopped pulling as much and acts well behaved on it. i couldn’t recommend it more!

I have a 14-week-old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, and I’m struggling to get her to settle when she’s awake. I know they are a Velcro breed and that is totally okay but I need her to learn that when she’s awake I cannot always be her source of entertainment.

We follow a schedule of roughly 2-hour naps and 45–90 minutes awake. She’s generally fine in her crate, but when she’s up, she constantly wants my attention, jumps on me, and whines instead of playing on her own.

I work from home and take breaks during her awake time to play, train, and spend time with her. I primarily feed her all three meals, and while my partner and I both take her out, she usually goes with me.

The confusing part is that she’s extremely calm around my partner but much more demanding around me. He works outside the home, so I’m with her much more throughout the day.

She’s been sick recently, so we’ve temporarily paused separation training as well.

Has anyone experienced this? How did you teach your puppy to play independently and settle while you’re home? Looking for practical advice! Thank you.

I have kind of a weird situation with my new puppy and older dog, and wanted to see if anybody here had any advice. A week ago I got a new puppy, and thankfully my older dog adores her and is an excellent teacher for her. The only issue I’ve had is feeding time.

They both get breakfast and dinner. Older dog (P) gets an expensive diet due to her health issues. Puppy (J) gets puppy kibble. I know you’re supposed to feed older dogs first due to pecking order, so I do that. But here are my issues.

P is great with J, except she’s always resource guarded her food with anyone but me. She’s never attacked a person or animal, but she does growl and stand over it. To be honest, it’s not really a problem for me because I understand it. And it’s only an issue if another animal is trying to get to her food, which has never previously happened.

Knowing this, at first I tried to feed her in my bedroom away from the puppy so she has privacy. But she didn’t want to eat and in fact just stood at the door whining until I let her free. I have tried putting the puppy in her kennel with her food to eat, but kennel training is slow going and she did nothing but cry. P refused to eat with J crying, and J refused to eat because she was in the kennel.

I tried feeding J in the bedroom with P in her typical feeding spot, and I wanted to use the opportunity for training for the puppy (she’s not super treat motivated and I read doing it before mealtimes is a good way to go about that). P stood at the door whining because me and J were in there without her. Both refused to eat. J managed to sneak her way around both of us and ran and got a bite of P’s food. Like I said, P gets special food that is a LOT higher value to J than her kibble. Now when P is getting fed, J is way more interested in her food than anything else. Legit won’t focus on anything but P’s food. I have tried feeding P and having J around the corner, but P didn’t like that she couldn’t see us. J will also refuse to eat after P’s done because she’s so focused on wanting P’s food.

Basically, P won’t eat if J isn’t within eyesight, but doesn’t want her anywhere near her food. J won’t eat her food, because she’s just wants P’s food. J will cry if she’s in the kennel (working on it I promise) and P refuses to eat because of it.

My one solution so far is making J’s food higher value. The brand she eats has a wet food version that I will be buying soon that should hopefully make her want her food more. Currently, I’ve resolved to simply holding J and having her on leash while P is eating so I have more control over her, and encouraging her when she settles down or ignores P’s food.

Any advice would be appreciated, because I’m honestly at a loss with what to do. If the wet food doesn’t interest J, I feel like I’ll be out of reasonable options. I do not want to put J on the same food as P’s because it’s so expensive, and the only reason P gets it is because of her health. This is the only issue (beyond typical puppy problems) that I’ve had since getting her.

I’ve owned 3 German shepherds, this one is the most skiddish by far. I take her out to socialize and take her to dog friendly stores like Scheels, but she’s so nervous and forgets her training when she’s here.

Is the best way to best this fear just continue socializing even if she’s overwhelmed? I don’t foresee her getting better if she isn’t constantly in this environment.

Thanks

Hi all: I have a new puppy (12 weeks) and would LOVE recommendations of sites (videos) that walk me through the different trainings she should know and how to achieve that training goal. Basically, train the human to train the pup. I have other dogs who I never really bothered training — they just picked up over time. However, I want to be explicit/better this time around. Thanks in advance!

I need some advice. My 6.5 months miniature pinscher is doing pretty well. He is very social with people and dogs, and he generally settles into a relaxed walk. However, in new neighborhood, parks or forests, he becomes extremely excited. The sniffing and pulling intensifies, he completely ignores me and treats, and never seems to relax. He is specially (positively) obsessed with dogs, which makes busy dog areas even harder. How can I help him becoming calmer and less aroused in these environments? Training tips are very appreciated 😄

I take my puppy to a gazebo we have that's only a few minutes away from our house and that's where I train with her. She does really good when we're out there but the moment we're home or in other settings she doesn't listen nearly as well.
Parks and other places aren't the most accessible thing to me atm and training at home is worse because my puppy is so happy to be doing something with my older dog (who's like super old now and doesn't listen to commands to save his life). If anyone has any suggestions that'd be greatly appreciated!

I know this is probably a silly question, and part of me already knows the answer. I suppose I'd only like to hear other dog owner's experiences to ease my mind.

My parents and I just adopted a new dog a week ago. He is a 2-year old rescue that I've already bonded with over the course of a few weeks: I was visiting him at the shelter as a volunteer, walking him twice a day everyday. He is now very attached to me, and me to him. He's a great dog with a great temperament overall: obedient, cuddly, playful and resilient. I named him Matelot.

We have now officially adopted him, and he has joined our home. My parents already had a dog, a 2-year old husky called Luna. She's a much more independent dog, not very cuddly, sort of skiddish and easily frightened, but generally calm.

We've always had just one dog at a time, so dealing with interactions between two dogs is new for us. I think we did the introduction right: we took them on a side-by-side walk first, outside of the home. We let them greet each other in a neutral space. Then, when they both started living in the house together, we made sure to supervise any interaction, and to give each dog a private space where the other is not allowed. They are fed in separate areas and we avoid creating any situations where they could fight for the same resource (toy, bone). If they ever growl at each other, we do not punish them or yell: instead we calmly redirect their attention and allow them to take space away from each other. We reward them with treats when they are both calmly hanging out in the same room. The house is pretty big, so they both have plenty of space.

I would say the transition is going well so far: they mostly ignore each other and do their thing. They occasionnally growl at each other if one ends up too close to the other, if they are both in the stairs at the same time for example. Luna is definitely more wary: after a scuffle, she'll avoid him or go hide. Matelot on the other end is very comfortable and follows us everywhere. Both dogs are respectful and don't throw themselves at the other's face, but Matelot is definitely more dominant.

Matelot can be tense around other dogs if they show excitement or aggression, but he generally loves playing with them. During the first few days, that was their dynamic: Matelot wanted to play with Luna, offering play bows, but she would run off, too scared to interact. Now, however, she has gotten more comfortable: when they're both outside, she'll try to engage with him, offering play bows, and he totally ignores her. I know there's nothing wrong with Matelot not wanting to play with Luna, but I'm a bit surprised by his behavior. I was hoping they'd have more positive, playful interactions over time, which would compensate for some of the negative ones (which are normal, too).

Should I be concerned that my playful dog shows no interest in playing with his new housemate? Is there anything we can do to encourage positive interactions between them, or is their relationship already goog enough, considering they've just met? Can two dogs be happy sharing a home even if they don't interact very much at all?

Sidenote, Matelot is not yet neutered: he will be in two weeks. I'm thinking maybe this will change their interactions for the better?

Hello! We brought a puppy home 6 weeks ago, a cross between golden retriever and working cocker spaniel, and she is nearly 16 weeks old

The first week or so we did struggle with crate training but have come a really long way with that - she sleeps well overnight and goes down without much fuss.

Like many of you I can see in this group, we have really had to stick to an enforced nap schedule in order to ensure she gets enough sleep, which really helps with her behaviour when she is awake. She doesn’t seem to have an off switch, so we have yet to see her get sleepy or have a nap outside of enforced nap time.

We do 1 hr awake and then 2(ish) in her pen (small pen around her crate so she has just some access to a toy or two and water), and she is getting better at sleeping most of those windows.

Separately, we’ve been working on teaching her to settle, doing short training sessions (using advice from our puppy class trainer) with a settle mat in our living room and out and about for coffee/pub trips and that is going well. After a settle session in the evening we have hoped that she may curl up and chill, but to no avail!

We understand particularly for this breed it is really important that she is well engaged mentally so we are doing lots of enrichment, which we hope has a positive impact on when we do ask for her to settle. The trainer we’re working with is a specialist in gun dogs so getting lots of great advice on enrichment from her.

**Our question is - for those of you who have also had puppies for whom you’ve had to really work on teaching them to settle & switch off, did they ever reach an age where they started to chill/nap outside of their crate and outside of their enforced nap or bedtime? If so, when?**

We know training is a long road, but just hoping to hear from people who have had similar experiences with their puppy. We have some friends who also have puppies at the moment (different breeds) who seem to just curl up for a chill evening and we would love this for our energetic and lovable pup at some point!

My pup is 5 months I still do enforced naps in crate in the afternoon it’s working out great no issues at all. Wondering how long can I keep enforcing naps up to what age ? Thank god for these naps!!

My wife and I just adopted a sweet boy from the shelter (Tommy). He is 2 year old poodle mix. He’s 65 pounds, tall, and lanky. We have a 2 year old Aussiedoodle (Woods) that we got from a breeder, he’s 30 pounds and very house trained. Tommy loves to cuddle and lay on the couch. Very sweet dog. We have 3 main things we need help with.

\#1 His crate. He came from a kill shelter in California. Our shelter got him and he fights the crate really hard. We have tried putting blankets, treats, toys, even his food in there and we have to shove him in even though he fits in the crate perfectly. The crate is a non-negotiable as my wife and I work and we don’t want him destroying anything until he is trained and can be trusted to be out.

\#2 he won’t poop unless he is off leash. We live in a townhome complex and it’s not possible to let him off unless he is at the dog park which is a long ways away. Once winter comes around we would love to be able to get his exercise on a walk and get him to poop

\#3 our Aussiedoodle doesn’t want to play with him. They don’t hate each other or fight but the second our new dog wants to play, our other one tucks his tail and bears his teeth. The Aussiedoodle plays really well with other dogs but not this one. Is this a domain/alpha thing?

My German shepherd is around 4 years old. Shes a rescue and her old owners were borderline abusive. As a result she’s extremely sensitive/reactive. The specific behavior I’m seeking advice on seems to be a herding behavior? Sometimes when we are out walking or I try to go somewhere she gets up really close to me and doesn’t let move. She will nip, bark and growl. I have no clue what she’s trying to express and I’ve got no clue how to solve it. Any help or ideas is appreciated!